Archive for the ‘Cork elm’ Tag

This elm has been written about here before. I will gloss over the past details and just show a few progression shots for clarity.

This was the stump as dug from the tree farm ( Steve DaSilva ) in Feb. of 2013. Over the next few years the branches were styled and given some shape. Fast growing meant cutting in of the wire many times and some scarring can be seen giving some character to the branches.

I decided that the tree was about as far as I could take it as it was. I would either have to layer the tree reserving the top portion as a good Moyogi tree and then work on the bottom and utilize that over a number of years. Or, turn it into a sort of Bunjin tree because of its long trunk with special branching near the top.

I thought the Bunjin style may be worth the effort so most of the branches on the lower half were removed.

I applied about 8 guy wires to the tree in an effort to pull down the branches to get the necessary effect of an older looking tree. The tree has its short comings as far as a bunjin styled tree. First the trunk is quite large. It is not easily seen in the photo but is nearly three inches across at the base. About half way up, the tree had been chopped for a direction change and some necessary taper in the trunk. What it did was build shoulders on the chop. This gives the impression of two cylinders on top of each other. While the top third shows much more taper due to the fact that I was able to control the growth in a container rather than in the ground.

A picture of the tree during its naked X-rated photo shoot!

This bark was removed from some places to get the necessary taper that would improve the overall look of the trunk.

This large lump will have to be worked on to smooth out the bump.

These old scars and the new ones as well will need some work to make them a part of the feeling of the tree.

Sunday morning Jan. 1st, 2017

I began by carving some interest into all the old stubs. Some were carved and some just smoothed.

I had three choices for Literati pots to choose from. The two shallow ones are from Japan and the other is a local potted.

There are no feet on the pot and it will sit directly on the wire.

I just cut a piece of screen to fill the entire bottom and allow the ties wires to do the holding in place of the screen.

After pruning and root pruning the tree was tied into it’s new pot.

For the guy wires I use a 24 gauge steel wire that is anodized black. I thread that thru 3/32 shrink tube for protection on the branch. It’s all very small and barely visible.

The guy wires are attached to small 1/4 inch brass screw eyes that I thread in along areas not readily seen from the front.

The final result. So far reception has been OK but still not Bunjin. People still feel the trunk is too big. When seen in person that feeling is not present.

Like this:

13 Months ago I acquired this cork elm from a growing field. My friend Steve DaSilva had grown this out from cutting in about five years. The tree has a 3.25 inch trunk and is 20 inches tall.

This is the progression over 13 months. There is a double set of bar branches up top that I will deal with during the summer when the tree is more dormant. Right now I just want to get as much strength as possible before I cut anymore on the tree other than trimming. Cork elms are notorious about just up and a branch die for no reason. I just know when I make the decision to take off two, one of those left will croak. I have dealt with my friend MURPHY before.

After some pruning and removal of long shoots. Basicly this is just a hedge pruning.

This is a virtual of which branches I would take off. The upper one on the left in the apex portion would be bent down to help fill the void. Maybe not as much as I have shown here but more gradual. The trunk can also be carved after the left bar branch is removed. Right now it is an unsightly bulge because removal of wood here would kill that branch. With its removal, it wouldn’t matter. This tree would benefit from some flare at the soil line and that can only be accomplished from growing on a flat hard surface. That will be the plan after I get a good root pad from this colander. It has some good surface rootage that I was able to expose when repotting this season into the colander.

After a year or two and a little filling out, branch refinement can take place. I’ll be back end of 2015 to compare this virt and where I am with the tree.